


silence is golden (and you've got my hopes up)

by theblondedictionary



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Summer Camp, kid!pristin, kid!seventeen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2018-10-21 02:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10675611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblondedictionary/pseuds/theblondedictionary
Summary: So really, other than the eyesore that is the orange t-shirt he has to wear and the eye candy that is Hoseok, the summer doesn't really seem to be half bad.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from talk too much by COIN! 
> 
> welcome to my first WIP, enjoy! it includes summer camp shenanigans and other nonsense.

The summer Kihyun is hired at Camp Aspen, he needs the money. He likes kids enough and it's a reason to spend the summer after graduating college away from his parents while he figures his shit out.

The drive up to the campsite is a long one, and Kihyun is absolutely sure he's getting himself lost just before he passes a sign informing him that he's only a few miles out from the campsite. He's greeted with the sight of a thick wood and the road ends, turning into a dirt path. He's mumbling to himself about how he's going to have to wash all the dust off of his car at this rate as his tires kick up more dirt all around him.

Finally, he passes under the entrance to the camp, from his understanding the kids wouldn't be showing up for a few days so he wasn't on the lookout for any kids. He did, however, spot a few guys in bright orange t-shirt carrying crates from the back of their cars into a building labeled 'main lounge.' He parks his car quickly pops his trunk to scan his effects, he brought far more things than he was going to admit to anyone, he already resigned himself to smuggling his excess belongings into his cabin later that night.

Outside of the car, he's able to take in all of his surroundings and the fresh air the mountains provided. From where he parked, he could see through the thick woods and the expansive lake peeking out through the trees. His eyes were immediately drawn to the dock that was built onto it, already finding himself itching to jump off it into the lake's clear blue water. He takes a deep breath and hoists one of his duffel bags over his shoulder and closes his trunk easily. The early summer sun is beating down against his skin and he takes small peaceful moment to himself before he’s surrounded by screaming children for the duration of the summer.

He heads to the main cabin where he saw the two guys carrying boxes, the interior was exactly like he had expected, he didn’t expect to see so many other people inside the lounge though.

Several people busied around, unpacking boxes and setting up supplies in their proper location. Kihyun makes it halfway across the room before anyone recognizes him.

“You seem a little tall to be a camper.” A voice calls from across the room and suddenly all eyes are in him. Fantastic.

“Could’ve fooled me!” A cheeky voice calls from the opposite end of the room and the inhabitants of the room laugh at Kihyun’s indignant expression.

“I literally _just_ got here!” He cries, letting his bag fall to the floor.

“You’re Kihyun, right?” A unnecessarily muscular man approaches him with a wide smile and Kihyun can only really nod dumbly.

“Welcome to Camp Aspen, thanks for coming on so last minute, you’re really saving our asses.” He chuckles. Everyone else has since moved on, finishing their tasks and starting to settle in for the evening.

“Yeah, my friend said you could use the extra help, although I’m not sure what help I can be with kids, I’m an only child.” Kihyun admits, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

“You’ll be great, don’t worry about it. Well, I’m Hyunwoo, let’s introduce you to everyone else!” Kihyun nods and follows the large man. Kihyun really questions why someone so large would be a summer camp counselor but lets it go as they approach a small group of other counselors, all of them wearing the bright orange t-shirt.

“Everyone, this is Kihyun.” Hyunwoo introduces quickly and Kihyun waves, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips.

A tall, skinny guy with black hair blinks sleepily and nods, “I’m Hyungwon.” He smiles politely and Kihyun nods back, committing the face and name to memory.

“Hi! I’m Jooheon! Nice to meet you!” A small guy next to Hyungwon pipes up, he grins and huge dimples form on his cheeks, Kihyun nicknames him ‘happy dimple guy’in his head and there’s a girl sitting next to Jooheon, typing something on her phone.

“Seulgi! Say hi!” Jooheon taps her shoulder and she looks up and beams at Kihyun.

“Hi! Sorry! Nice to meet you!” Seulgi smiles and Kihyun smiles back. Kihyun decides that Seulgi seems pretty sweet and looks at the boy sitting at her feet.

“That’s Changkyun, he’s weird.” Seulgi teases and Changkyun sticks his tongue out at her. Kihyun rolls his eyes, Changkyun reminds him of a younger brother despite not having one himself.

Hyunwoo takes him around and shows him his cabin and along the way he meets Minhyuk, the guy who made the jab about his height, Wendy, Irene, Joy and Yeri in passing and makes a note to try to get to know them a little better the next day.  Hyunwoo is showing him his bunk in the male staff cabin and Kihyun hears someone else walk in.

“Ah! Is this the new guy?” A voice comes up behind them and Kihyun is face to face with the largest piece of eye-candy he’s ever seen. Kihyun immediately notices his hair, a light dusty blond. Kihyun’s eyes then immediately fall to face, deep brown eyes and full lips. He’s beautiful, not in the intense model way that Hyungwon is, but visually striking. Hyunwoo coughs behind him and Kihyun remembers that Hoseok had sort-of asked him a question.

“I...Hi yeah I’m Kihyun.” He introduces and Hoseok nods, his facial expression is serious and apprehensive and Kihyun wonders what he might have against him right off the bat. Did he do something wrong?

“I know, I’m Hoseok, I’m the next in charge after Hyunwoo, if you have any questions and can’t find him, you can ask me.” Hoseok explains, handing over a pile of bright orange t-shirts. Kihyun groans internally. It didn’t take a genius to know that bright orange wasn’t exactly anyone’s color but he wasn’t going to push it. “I brought your work shirts, we wear them just to be easily identifiable by the kids, please make sure you wear one every day and wash them regularly.”

Kihyun frowns, at least everyone else was nice, to a point. This guy seems all business. Even Hyunwoo who was not a man of many words in the least, seemed more friendly than this guy right off the bat. Kihyun was hoping that Hoseok had just had a long day and maybe that’s why.

“The kids get here tomorrow, we’re separating the kids up into groups by color, you, Hoseok, Wendy, and Minhyuk will be team…Purple? You wanted purple right Hoseok?” Hyunwoo asks looking over to his co-worker.

“Blue, but purple is fine too.” He says easily, sitting on the bunk across from Kihyun’s. The two make a brief eye contact and Hoseok gives him a small smile, Kihyun’s chest relaxes a little. Surely, he’s just overreacting and there’s no reason why Hoseok would hate him right off the bat.

“I brought purple bandanas for everyone with me.” Kihyun confesses, not knowing what type of summer camp it was, but he’d be damned if they didn’t look cohesive.

Hyunwoo sighs and Hoseok chuckles, “You’ll fit right in here, everyone else is going to be so jealous.” Hyunwoo runs his hand through his hair and Kihyun grins proudly to himself. Fishing out the lavender bandanas from his duffle bag, handing one to Hoseok.

“We will be the envy of the whole summer camp.” Kihyun says adamantly and Hyunwoo laughs.

“Don’t forget, this is for the kids.” Hoseok teases and Kihyun reminds himself that he’s going to have to reign in his competitive streak.

“Of course.”

The rest of the night goes without incident and he manages to sneak away to get the rest of his luggage.

Until he’s stumbling through the door of the cabin with extravagant bedding and Hoseok is there. Kihyun thinks. His vision is obstructed by said bedding. He just hears his amused voice.

“Need any help there?” The way Hoseok says it, Kihyun wants to bite back and tell him that he made it this far without any help and he can make it 4 more steps to his bunk without incident but the universe hates him and everything he stands for, literally. Right as he opens his mouth to give Hoseok a piece of his mind, his feet get tangled in a trailing sheet, he guesses, and tumbles to the ground.

“Oh shit!” Kihyun hears a soft _thud_ that he assumes is Hoseok jumping down from his bunk and walking over.

“You jinxed me!” Kihyun laments, immediately trying to gather all of his extra belongings into his arms.

“Or maybe you should’ve made a second trip.” Hoseok laughs and grabs one of Kihyun’s bags and hoists it over his shoulder before Kihyun can object. He wants to pout, he really does, but  

“At least I waited until I was inside until I fell…” Kihyun admits tossing his bedding onto the thin sleeping pad they were provided. He thanks his past self for thinking to bring extra padding because no one would want to be around him if he spent the whole summer with a sore back from these crappy bunks.

“You know the camp is only… What two months right? You’re not moving in.” Hoseok points out as Kihyun makes sense of all of his things, trying to separate them.

“Of course, I just like being prepared.”

Hoseok just hums and climbs up to his bunk above Kihyun.

Oh.

Kihyun quickly puts together his bed and and puts away most of his belongings in his cubbies.

Hoseok is reading the whole time so Kihyun doesn’t feel like he can make small talk so they exist in silence even though he feels like he’s about to explode. He wants to shake Hoseok by his broad shoulders and ask _Who the fuck gave you the right to be this attractive and equally confusing?!_ When Kihyun finally finishes with his night time routine and he collapses into bed he looks at his phone for the first time in hours, maybe texting his friends back home about his day.

But he doesn’t have any reception.

“Hey, uh… Hoseok?” Kihyun asks leaning out to look up at his boss.

“Hm?” Hoseok doesn’t look over from his book.

“Is there a Wifi password?” Kihyun asks hopefully and Hoseok looks down at Kihyun, around his book.

“Yes and no. There is Wi-fi, but we’re the poor bastards who for some reason can’t access it from this side of the cabin. Welcome to Camp Aspen.” Without another word he goes back to his book without another word and Kihyun collapses back onto his back, staring at the planks of wood supporting the bed above him.

Ignoring the growing flock of butterflies in his stomach, he manages to settle down and relax. He plugs in his now useless $400 phone and decides it’s better to get some sleep then try to stay awake, anyway.

It’s gonna be a long summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kihyun meets the kids, his stomach might be in knots but at least he's got his resting bitch face under control. 
> 
> (Or, marshmallows deserve to be toasted gently, not burnt to a crisp.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! I'm so very sorry for vanishing into the night and not updating this fic -- I had finals and then graduation and the well.. I have no excuse after that. But here's a new chapter update!

Kihyun wakes up before the rest of the cabin that morning. Naturally being an early morning riser, he tiptoes around his coworkers and into the shower area. He’s standing by his bunk, surveying his outfit laid out for the upcoming day, when there’s the ringing of a bell from the other side of the camp. Kihyun knows this is the last the counselors will be waking up with that bell, however. The bell is to wake up the kids, not the counselors who, on a normal day, would already be down in the dining hall setting up for breakfast. 

Kihyun dresses quickly while the rest of his cabin wakes up, trying to figure out what to do with his bandana, he figures he could tie it around his forehead but then again, it might mess up his hair. He pushes away the thoughts, tucking it in his pocket for later while he busies himself with his mental checklist. 

Band-aids in his backpack? Check. 

Candy to distract young children who might need band-aids? Check. 

Cool, decorated clipboard? Check. 

An overwhelming sense of dread? Check. 

In his head, he knew that there wasn’t anything to inherently fear, he knew he just didn’t want to mess up. He wanted to impress his coworkers, already feeling like he was at a disadvantage for not only being added so late but also he couldn't shake that Hoseok just wasn’t all that fond of him. 

Kihyun had decided that he was going to impress the shit out of them and blow them out of the water while also impressing the kids and hopefully making a minimal number of them cry. All while trying to maintain his summer tan and avoid getting a sunburn. Double and triple checking all of the things he might need for the day he slings his backpack over his shoulders and heads down to the dining hall first. Maybe he’ll be able to get the wifi password out of one of the campsite managers before everyone else comes down. 

Kihyun is waist deep into his emails and halfway through his morning coffee when Hyunwoo, Jooheon, Irene, and Seulgi enter the dining hall laughing. 

He looks up and they all come up around him, putting down their things in the chairs around him before going to get their own breakfast without really saying a word to him. Tensions built in Kihyun’s chest, were they just sitting there because they were used to it? Did he sit at their table? Kihyun sighs to himself for thinking like clique obsessed high schooler but decides he’ll figure it out soon. 

“Why do you look like I’ve just kicked your puppy?” Jooheon knocks Kihyun out of his head as he sits back down with his breakfast. Seulgi is right behind him and shoots a knowing look Kihyun’s way. He looks away. His facial expression shifts quickly after. 

“I...I wasn’t!” He defends and Jooheon just chuckles and smiles comfortingly as Hyunwoo and Irene return as well. Kihyun makes a note to try his best to control his resting bitch face around the children, and his boss. But mostly the children. 

“So I heard you brought bandanas for your team, Kihyun.” Jooheon mentions offhandedly, and Kihyun shoots a glance at Hyunwoo who is fighting back a smile, suddenly all too interested in his scrambled eggs. 

The cloth of the bandana suddenly feels like it weighs a ton sitting in his pocket, almost if he’s still enough he can feel the material shift in his khaki shorts. 

He swallows hard, making a quick decision on how to handle the topic. Shooting Jooheon a blinding grin, he proudly pulls the cloth out of his pocket and shows it to him. 

“Yep! Everyone is gonna be so jealous when they see how great we look!” He preens, “I’m not sure where to wear it though, what do you think?” he asks cheekily, holding it up by his face, “I think it brings out my eyes.” 

“Your eyes are brown.” Seulgi laughs. 

Kihyun frowns, “They’re complimentary colors!” He defends, flinging it over his shoulder to free up his hands. 

“I think Hoseok wanted to tie his around his leg or something, maybe you could do your arm?” Jooheon finally suggests as the rest of the team walks into the hall. Kihyun makes momentary eye contact with Hoseok and immediately looks away, his bandanna in secured just above the knee. Kihyun gulps. 

Maybe the bandanas were a bad idea. 

The rest of the morning is a blur of coffee and for Kihyun specifically ,furious note taking. He knows that he joined late and he’s sure he’s going to mess up so he’s going to try to keep the fuck ups to a minimum. 

Hyunwoo, while isn’t a man of many words, can command a crowd, Hoseok does most of the talking and explains how the day is going to go. It’s outlined on the handouts in the clipboard but Hoseok reminds everyone to try not to worry if they’re not exactly on schedule since little kids tend to be a force of nature all on their own. 

Everyone laughs. Kihyun just becomes more nervous. 

—

The butterflies still haven’t flown away by the time the bus arrives. Kihyun is standing with his team, Hoseok, Minhyuk, and Joy all of them properly decked out and ready for the activities of the summer to begin. Kihyun finally decided to tie the bandanna around his arm like he suggested. Jooheon nods approvingly, it eases some of Kihyun’s anxiety. The air smells like sunscreen and the sun is a little bit too warm on Kihyun’s skin but he prepared for that on the long drive up the mountain so now that the moment was there, he embraced the feeling. Otherwise, he’d be complaining all summer and that wouldn’t be fun for anyone.  

The brakes of the big yellow schoolbus come to squeaky halt and Kihyun can feel Minhyuk vibrating next to him with energy and excitement. 

“I think I’m gonna pass out.” Kihyun murmurs to himself as he sees movement behind the windows and Minhyuk looks at him, concerned. 

“Are you drinking water? It’s supposed to stay this warm all summer!” Mihyuk cautions, fanning Kihyun with his clipboard and Kihyun smiles at the cool breeze. 

“Oh no!” His voice lowers so the others don’t hear him, “I’m just a little nervous.” He admits and Minhyuk nods sympathetically. 

“It’s totally okay to be nervous, but once you meet them you’ll be fine!” Minhyuk says at full volume. His volume elicits a glance back from Hoseok and Kiyhun manages feel all the blood leaving his face and his cheeks somehow burning a hot red congruently. He looks away from Hoseok and laughs nervously. 

“I’m...Yeah I’m sure it’ll be fine! I do love kids, I’m sure they’ll love me too!” He assures, regaining his air of confidence, even if he’s slightly bullshitting it. 

The doors swing open and kids start trailing out of the bus. 

Kihyun breathes. He can do this. He can absolutely, totally do this. No matter that he just joined the team, he knows that he’ll be good at this position, and that’s all that matters.

The kids all start talking at them at once. Kihyun smiles and his job truly begins.

— 

The camp counselors of Camp Aspen can put on one hell of a show. They herd the children into the main lodge, next to the dining hall and teach them chants, call and repeats, and overall try their best to excite a group of young kids who have all been on a bus for far longer than any child should be subjected to. 

So when the time comes for the kids to be split into teams everyone is anticipating the names being read out by Hyunwoo, proudly sporting neon green face paint, a line drawn under each eye. Seulgi, Jooheon, and Irene all also incorporated some type of the face paint as well. Jooheon has a paw print painted proudly on his face while Irene has a flower, Seulgi peppered her nose and cheekbones with little green dots. Similar designs and face paint covers the rest of the staff to separate them from the each other. 

“Team Purple!” Minhyuk calls into the mic once it’s handed to him and the students perk up listening carefully for their name to be called, “Seungcheol, Seungkwan, Minghao, Seokmin, Wonwoo, Kyla, Xiyeon, and Sungyeon! Join the purple team over there!” Minhyun beams and gestures to where Kihyun, Joy, and Hoseok are waving their arms and cheering loudly. The students enthusiastically make their way over to them, with Minhyuk following behind. Kihyun had been following along on his roster as the rest of the students are sorted into their respective groups. He ticks them off of his main roster; Jihun, Kyulkyung, Junhui, Mingyu, Eunwoo, Jisoo, Kyungwon,and Yebin were on the green team and Jooheon already seemed to be connecting to some of the students in his group. The yellow team had a student missing so they were one short but the rest of the students, Soonyoung, Roa, Junghan, Vernon, Nayoung, Yewon, and some kid who insisted on being called Dino from the get go were sorted into the last group. 

Almost immediately, staff has to soothe some worries that the kids won’t see their friends anymore now that they’re in different groups. They have to cajole the youngsters that most of the time their activities are all as a group. Some of the kids forgot they were upset moments later when Minhyuk asks them if they’ve ever gone hiking before. Kihyun is grateful for Minhyuk’s charm with children as well as the kids’ natural ability to be easily distracted by the promise of a new activity later on. All-in-all, Kihyun decides that the rest of the day can’t go too badly. 

—

Kiyhun made one, tragic mistake, by the end of the day. He realizes he played his best card too soon, literally. He showed his kids a magic card trick and when they all screamed in delight by the end Kihyun was beaming with pride. Two in particular follow him around all through dinner begging for answers and Kihyun still refuses to cave in. Hoseok shoots him a glance from across the table after they all make sure the kids are settled with their food. 

“You’re not going to show them the trick, are you?” Hoseok asks, speaking more into his spaghetti than to Kihyun. 

Kihyun grins, the rest of his team had seen the trick as well. Kihyun wanted to pretend that Hoseok did not look amused and slightly endeared by the trick but he did. Kihun definitely would be lying if it didn’t add to the pride Kihyun felt about impressing the kids and his team, specifically Hoseok. 

“A magician  _ never _ reveals his secrets, Hoseok!” Kihyun tuts at Hoseok who just laughs. Kihyun soaks up his expression and realizes that while maybe it’ll take a bit for Hoseok to get used to him, Kihyun knows he isn’t a bad guy. He is, in fact, an attractive, funny, thoughtful guy that somehow made their ugly t-shirts looks good when they stretched across his biceps. That was one of many dreamy images and that Kihyun was already subjected to on a daily basis that he sometimes allowed himself to be sucked into whenever he had a few free moments to do it. His brain was stuck on this mental loop of how good Hoseok looked. And this was only the second day. He couldn’t begin to imagine what the rest of the summer was going to look like. 

The two ate in relative silence unless they were chatting with one of their students sitting around them. Kihyun learned that the boys and the girls went to the same school but were in separate classes, only seeing one another during their free time. Seokmin, one of the more extroverted students explains the whole thing while the others would add commentary or just nod in agreement. Hoseok was chatting with a younger girl who Kihyun is pretty sure is named Kyla. While he knew he already loved his group, he was terrible with names and was careful to make sure he knew a kid’s name for sure before he said it. He didn’t want to run the risk of hurting one of his kids’ feelings by calling them the wrong name. 

“Kihyun? Helllllo?” One of his students asked, Minhao maybe? Waved his hand in front of Kihyun’s face. 

“Huh? What? I’m sorry, I was up in space I guess.” Kihyun chuckles nervously as the kids giggle and give him a hard time, he spots Hoseok rolling his eyes and Kihyun wants to retreat back into his cabin. He blames the early evening haze and the long day for his lack of concentration. 

“We know. Hoseokkie asked if you were going to wrap up dinner so we could roast marshmallows. He spelled marshmallows though. Like we can’t spell.” Minhao laughs again and Hoseok is the one who blushes this time. 

“I think that can be arranged if you make sure you clean up after yourselves after dinner.” Kihyun offers. 

“Ugh, you sound like my mom.” Minghao pouts and everyone but Minghao and Kihyun laugh. 

“You think that was bad? Psssh.” Kihyun shakes his head, “Just wait.” 

A few kids groan, Hoseok chuckles underneath his breath, Kihyun beams again. There’s a satisfying pleasure in playfully teasing his kids.

His kids. 

It’s been less than 12 hours and he’s already wanting to wrap his short arms around his group and wipe dirt from their foreheads. 

He remembers why he got the position in the first place and how much he immediately and without abandon cares for kids. 

He knew this summer wouldn’t be so bad after all when they were all sitting around the fire with their marshmallows and Kihyun is showing them how to toast one to perfection. Minhyuk and Hoseok’s catch fire and the all the children break into a round of giggles. Joy and Kihyun shake their hands and continue to rotate their marshmallows using the technique Kihyun had demonstrated. 

“See everyone? That’s what we are  _ not _ supposed to do.” Joy motions grandly to Minhyuk and Hoseok’s charred treats and Hoseok shrugs, pulling his off of the metal stick and popping it into his mouth. 

“Spreak fer yorfoself, I luf themf likf thif.” Hoseok retorts, and again, more laughter. 

Day one down, and Kihyun knew that if this set the tone for the rest of the summer, how bad could it be? By the time the kids are ushered into their cabins and lights out comes and goes, Kihyun collapses face down into his bed. He knows he should wash his face, what with having a skincare routine to maintain but his eyes are just too heavy. He can even feel his feet dangling off the edge of the bed with his shoes still on. 

Just as he’s drifting off, he hears Hoseok and Hyunwoo enter, laughing amongst themselves at a joke that Kihyun wasn’t privy to hearing. He hears footsteps towards his bunk and he’s too far gone but he wants to tell them that he’ll get up in a minute. 

“Ah, the first day really took a toll on him.” Hyunwoo chuckles softly. Kihyun hears Hoseok make a comment that he can’t make out and the two laugh again. The frustration of not knowing is almost enough to wake him up to turn around and ask. Almost, but not quiet. 

He drifted off to sleep dreaming about bright summer rays and bright smiles on a boy with ashy blond hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading everyone! you can find me on twitter [ here ](http://twitter.com/floralchangkyun) and please let me know your thoughts! <3 I hope everyone is having a great summer!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> camp aspen has a day on the lake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liiiiiive! I'm so sorry I've been MIA for so long! I promise I haven't abandoned this fic. I was finishing up college and getting settled at a new job! Anyway , this chapter I got out in a few days so I'm hoping to be more consistent in the future! Thanks everyone for sticking around <3 Enjoy! 
> 
> A QUICK CONTENT WARNING: there an almost drowning but nothing serious and no death!

It is days before Kihyun thinks about Hoseok again. He spends most of his time in a flurry, a joyous, chaotic flurry. His kids have grown on him far more quickly than he was anticipating, the kids were far more energetic than he was anticipating as well. By the end of the day, he was stone cold tired. Most nights he didn’t even dream, just stark darkness.

“How do kids even have this much energy? I’d love to know.” Kihyun grumbles to himself as he finishes tying his shoes one morning before breakfast.

“Hah! They’re little machines! Don’t count on them tiring out any time soon!” Minhyuk assures from the other side of the room.

Kihyun groans dramatically and Minhyuk laughs at the display, both of them knowing the other had a flair for the dramatic. The kids have been nothing but energetic but he suspects that by the time camp is over they will be itching to get back home. Kihyun has already seen his fair share of home-sick tears but they are easily distracted out of it enough. Night time is the hardest, for a lot of the kids this is the longest they have been away from home and it’s rough on them. On their team Minhyuk is amazing at cheering them up, so much so they often come to Kihyun for comfort as well.

“C’mon, we’ll be late for breakfast.” Hoseok taps Kihyun on the shoulder and shakes him out of his train of thought. Kihyun jumps at the sensation and the sound of Hoseok’s voice right next to him. He hadn’t had time to think about or be distracted by Hoseok in the past few days but now he welcomes the distraction of having Hoseok so close to him.

Kihyun smiles, shaking his head slightly, “Yeah, you’re right. Can’t miss that before Jooheon eats all the toast.” Kihyun chuckles and Hoseok grins,

“Or Hyungwon drinking all the coffee.” Hoseok adds, contributing to their laughter.

They leave the staff building together, walking down the slight hill towards the main and dining cabins.

“Looks like you’ve adjusted pretty well, by the way. The kids love you and I don’t think you’ve set fire to anything yet.” Hoseok comments and Kihyun just shrugs, shoving his hands into the front pouch of his sweater.

“I dunno about that, I think I might have signed my hair at the fire pit the other night trying to save a marshmallow for Seokmin.” He confessed meekly and almost immediately Hoseok leans over, inspecting his hair carefully. They stop in their tracks.

“Oh no, it’s worse than I thought!” Hoseok exclaims, his fingers brushing the top of Kihyun’s head.

Panic struck Kihyun’s heart, what if he had missed a place and it was actually way worse than he had originally assessed.

“Really? Where?!” He asks frantically, reaching up to where Hoseok’s hand was, their fingers brushing together. Kihyun was too worried to notice really until Hoseok jumped back in laughter.

“I’m kidding. Your hair is fine. Ooooh you should have seen your face.” Hoseok giggled and Kihyun’s face fell into a sour expression.

“I’m quitting.” He stated blankly. Hoseok just rolled his eyes.

“Of course you are. C’mon, grumpy.”

Kihyun wants to be angry with Hoseok, to tease him back and ignore him for the rest of the day. All he manages is to just stick out his tongue childishly and then shove his hands back into his sweater pouch.

“You’re no fun, Shin Hoseok.” Kihyun grumbles, but still has a small smile on his lips.

“Said no one, ever.” Hoseok is smiling too, and Kihyun knows he’s immediately fucked when his heart jumps a little.

 

—

The mornings are cool but by the afternoon it’s scorching up in the mountains. At the camp, the ages range from 9-11 years old most of the kids know how to swim, in the scorching heat they are begging to be let into the lake. Kihyun brings it up to Hyunwoo and Hoseok and the rest of the teams also explain that the kids are desperate for a day on the lake. Hynwoo approves, explaining that he and Hoseok will be on lifeguard duty by the lake. Kihyun sighs in relief because he himself, while CPR trained, wasn’t the strongest swimmer. He had kept that piece of information to himself though.

The day arrives and Kihyun is buzzing with excitement once again. The team planned for a fun, water filled day and barbeque on the lake. The kids also have an extra layer of hyper energy that morning. They spend the morning bouncing around until it warms up, smothering the kids in sunscreen and having a group safety talk. The kids listen attentively and the Minhyuk runs to the front of the large group.

“Who’s ready to head out to the lake!?” His voice rings through the main cabin and the cheer from the children is deafening.

“Okay, here we go.” Kihyun murmurs to himself and Seulgi appears next to him, large heart shaped sunglasses on her face.

“You’ll be fine, we haven’t lost a kid yet.” She teases and Kihyun blanches, “No really,” She continues, “Both Hoseok and Hyunwoo were actual lifeguards, they take it all really seriously.” She grins, patting Kihyun on the shoulder and they head out of the cabin, all the kids excitedly talking amongst themselves as they follow the counselors to the edge of the water.

“There aren’t alligators in the water, right?” Kyla, one of the younger members of the camp and the youngest of Kihyun’s team, asks the counselor who looks down at her and shook his head.

“No, of course not.”

“I hope there is! We could take one!” Vernon, a member of the yellow team teases, walking by with his group of friends. Kyla looks up at Kihyun again, concerned.

“There aren’t alligators. I promise.” Seulgi assures, taking her hand, “Have you ever been to a lake before?” She asks and Kyla shakes her head.

“It’s a lot of fun, even if you just put your feet in. Plus we’ll all be there.” Kihyun smiles comfortingly and Kyla nods thoughtfully before running off to catch up with her friends.

Hoseok and Hyunwoo are already set up when everyone reaches the lake, the sun is starting to climb high in the sky and Kihyun can feel sweat beginning to form on his back under his t-shirt. Hoseok and Hyunwoo are perched on a large lifeguard tower, Hoseok sitting on the floor of it and letting it legs dangle over the edge. He was breathtaking in the sunlight and Kihyun had to remind himself not to stare. His skin was glistening from either sunscreen or sweat and his shirt was long forgotten. Kihyun could barely see past his shoulders and his eyes were begging to see more but he teared them away and focused on the task at hand.

“Okay everyone, make sure you’re checking in with your team leader and don’t go past the ropes! Have fun!” Hoseok called out and just like that, chaos broke out. Some kids didn’t go very far but most of them ran full force into the water like it was the last thing they would ever do. Kihyun watched in awe as the kids fearlessly ran into the water and out towards the platform floating just before the rope.

“They’re something else, huh?” Jooheon laughs, coming up next to Kihyun.

“Yeah, I’m afraid to take my eyes off of them though.” Kihyun admits, his eyes darting across the water, looking for any signs of danger. But all he hears is the joying screams of the kids as they splash around in the water. Some choosing to go down the dock and jump off from there.

“Don’t, Hyunwoo and Hoseok were—”

“Life guards, I know. I’m just… I dunno worried about them I guess.” Kihyun interrupts.

Jooheon laughs again and claps Kihyun on the back.

“Stop being such a parent about it, they’ll be fine. It’ll be fine!” Jooheon assured, although to Kihyun it also sounded like he was trying to assure himself.

“I’ll stop being a parent about it, if you relax. I promise there are not alligators in the water.” Kihyun teased.

“What? Do you think there could be alligators in the water?” Jooheon’s voice raised a few octaves.

“I just said there wasn’t! Here, wanna go help bring down the stuff for the barbeque?” He suggests helpfully and Jooheon nods quickly, getting away from the water’s edge as quickly as possible.

“He’ll find anything to scream about in the water.” Kihyun hears Hoseok’s voice and turns around before looking up to see Hoseok grinning back down at him.

Kihyun makes a mental note to never communicate with Hoseok again, simply looking so rude was unacceptable. Honestly, what did he expect? Kihyun, not being able to think of anything to say simply stuck his tongue out at Hoseok. It seems that that’s all he’s able to do in front of Hoseok these days, and he hates himself for being increasingly childish around his boss.

“What was that about?” Hoseok fronts offense while Kihyun shrugs again.

“Easy for you to say from up there Mr. Lifeguard.” Kihyun finally found his tongue and Hoseok once again feigned offense.

“Hey, I’ll come down there if I have to!” Hoseok threatened and Kihyun puts his hands up in defeat.

“No no, I wouldn’t want to distract you.” Kihyun mutters.

He wonders if he would even be ‘distracting’ to Hoseok outside of work. Sure, Kihyun got on just fine in University but this was a whole different ball game. Hoseok was striking and attractive. On the other hand though, Kihyun wasn’t even sure Hoseok liked guys, the few conversations they had never reached back to their love lives. Kihyun wasn’t sure if he needed to be grateful that the conversation never headed that way but a small part of him wished it did so he could know whether he was pining over a straight guy or not. Kihyun got sucked into his own head, fantasy of being close to Hoseok, being able to touch him.

Kihyun managed to find a spot on the dock, leaning against a post and letting his feet dangle in the water for a little bit. He hissed at the cold as his let his legs drop into the water carefully. He retrieved the book from under his arm that he brought with him and started thumbing through it quietly, looking up every now and again to check on the kids; most of whom were still splashing happily in the water. Kihyun leaned back against the pole and closed his eyes momentarily, letting the sun shine against his face. He relishes in the warmth against his skin and feels himself drifting into his own thoughts. Kihyun is so far in his own head he jumps when he feels someone touching his shoulder.

“Agh!” He cries and squints to look up at Hoseok towering over him, “You scared me!” He further chastised and Hoseok simply laughs, sitting next to him, both of their feet submerged in the water.

“You were practically snoring, I didn’t mean to scare you that badly, but you are on the clock you know.” Hoseok says seriously glancing over at Kihyun. His heart sinks as he realises he’s getting in trouble.

“I’m so sorry I really didn’t even mean…” He’s cut off when Hoseok apparently breaks character and starts laughing.

“I’m kidding, man. You’re fine, enjoy yourself.” He laughs and Kihyun’s face becomes flushed in embarrassment.

“Sometimes I forget you’re technically my boss.” Kihyun groans and leans back against the pole again, rolling his eyes and looking back out to the lake and the kids.

“Yeah well that’s because I’m the coolest boss you’ll ever have.” Hoseok nudges Kihyun and he fights off a smile.

“Who’s been lying to you? Was it Changkyun?” Kihyun teases back and Hoseok feigns offense, putting a hand to his chest and gasping dramatically.

“I’ll have you know, I am very well liked.”

“The kids don’t count they all think you’re beautiful.”

“And you don’t?”

Kihyun’s legs stop moving in the water, “I never said that.”

Hoseok giggles, “I’m kidding. You really need to relax more.” Hoseok suggests and Kihyun just shrugs.

 _I’d relax more if you stopped teasing me every waking moment_. He thinks to himself.

“What are you reading?” Hoseok asks, pointing at the book in Kihyun’s lap. He lifts it up, showing Hoseok the cover.

“One of the books I brought with me. I’ve been too tired to read as much as I’d like this summer, so I figured I’d take the opportunity.” He explains and Hoseok nods, taking the book from Kihyun’s hands.

“It’s a good book.” Hoseok comments with a mischievous smile, placing the book on the dock, away from Kihyun, “Remember what I said when I told you to relax more?” Hoseok asks and Kihyun simply nods carefully.

“Good, this is to help you relax.” Hoseok said before putting his hands against Kihyun’s back and shoving him into the water.

Kihyun’s first thought is, _that asshole_. As he yells and falls into the water.

His legs fail him. He’s desperately kicking trying to get back up to the surface but it’s not working the way he planned. He realizes he never told Hyunwoo that he doesn’t know how to swim very well, despite it being required for the position. So of course Hoseok would assume he knew how to swim. He’s cold. The water might have been refreshing if it wasn’t an immediate shock. His lungs began to sting uncomfortably in search of air. Kihyun tries to swim to the surface, panic sets in. Kihyun in an instant, realizes he’s drowning. His flailing attempts to get to the surface isn’t successful and true panic hits him. He wants to breathe, he needs to breathe. His lungs are shaking, aching to breathe and just like that, just as he thinks it’s too late and he’s going to sink to the bottom of the lake, it’s over.

He’s above water.

Kihyun is sputtering and coughing and his lungs hurt but he’s breathing.

“Hey there.” Is the first thing he hears, right next to his ear. He’s being held up, by Hoseok. He’s…

Oh.

“Sorry.” Kihyun sputters, he can feel water dripping into his eyes. Hoseok’s arm is wrapped under Kihyun’s, holding him above water. He’s flush against Hoseok’s bare chest, if it was any other instance he’d be thrilled but in the moment, he wasn’t even considering it. “I’m so sorry.” He apologizes again. Hoseok hushes him.

“Can you climb the ladder?” Hoseok asks and Kihyun nods. Hoseok guides him to the ladder to the dock and Kihyun climbs up with shaky legs, eventually collapsing on the dock. He can hear children splashing around, it seems that his brush with death wasn’t noticed. Maybe Hyunwoo saw him, or one of the other staff members.

If they did they weren’t there, Kihyun wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Hoseok climbed up after him, sitting next to him, water was dripping down his bare chest. Kihyun’s own chest was heaving under the heavy fabric of his t-shirt.

“Are you okay? You hurt?” Hoseok asked and Kihyun shook his head breathlessly.

“I’m fine, I’m okay. Just give me a second.”

Hoseok kept his eyes on Kihyun the whole time, never once diverting his gaze. Kihyun caught his breath, coughing a few times and shook some of the water out of his eyes and hair. Hoseok still watching carefully as if Kihyun was going to jump in and start drowning all over again.

“Kihyun… I’m so sorry. I thought you knew how to swim.” Hoseok laments, finally breaking his gaze to look down in shame.

Kihyun’s tilted his head, Hoseok is blaming himself. Kihyun wasn’t upset, sure he was wet and more than a little shaken up over what happened but he wasn’t upset with Hoseok. How could he be? He didn’t tell anyone he wasn’t a strong swimmer, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was simply an accident.

“Hey,” Kihyun puts a finger under Hoseok’s chin and guides his head up, forcing him to look Kihyun in the eye, “I’m not upset with you. It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.” Kihyun explained, smiling slightly. Hoseok shook his head.

“I should have asked. I should have known better.” Hoseok mutters to himself. Kihyun sighs and pats his cheek playfully.

“You’re the one who tried to get me to lighten up, it kinda worked, didn’t it?”

Hoseok finally chuckles at that, if not just a little

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, really. Just y’know, next time maybe I should be the one pushing you in and I’ll jump after.” Kihyun notes and Hoseok nods at that.

“Deal.”

Kihyun is nearly dry by the time anyone realizes that they’re both missing. And the two hadn’t even realized it was time time to head back to the camp site.

All things considered it wasn’t a bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! as always feel free to hit me up on [twitter here](http://www.twitter.com/ghostchangkyun)!

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think? Hope you liked it so far
> 
> feel free to yell at me on my twitter [here](http://www.twitter.com/floralchangkyun)!


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